JDubb's Sideline Report

Is USC back? Depends on who you ask. However, they do have a a signal caller that shows promise to lead them back to greatness, as in a decade ago greatness. Sam Darnold, the redshirt sophomore from Capistrano Beach, California, has put the trojans back on the map in college football; an area where they have lived in mediocrity and not won anything significant, like the PAC 12. When Pete Carroll was running the show, USC put out great Quarterbacks like Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, two quarterbacks that took USC to new heights not seen for almost thirty years. Now Darnold is looking to make a name for himself to be mentioned in conversation with these former greats. There are three key factors that can make him a heisman trophy contender. Let’s take a look.

1. Arm Strength– If anything sticks out to me about Darnold, it’s his arm. It’s NFL caliber and you better believe scouts are licking their chops watching him sling the rock. Sam has a very gentle touch with the football and it looks effortless for him to throw the long ball. Last season, Darnold threw 31 touchdowns and 9 picks. He had a total of 3086 passing yards. That’s more than Carson Palmer’s freshman season at USC(1755 yards).
2. Field vision– This is one quality that does not come easy for a lot of quarterbacks but for Darnold, it seems to come naturally. When he reads the field, he looks like a veteran, like Peyton Manning in his prime. Now I hear you saying “slow down trigger, he only played one season.” That’s correct, but look at the Rose Bowl game. He single handily put that game on his shoulders and helped USC beat Penn St. He threaded the needle like a true pro. Shoot, go look at all the games he started in last season- there were so many times where he could predetermine what the defense was going to do that he didn’t have to call any audibles. This kid knows how to read a defense!
3. Decision Making- Not only does Darnold have a great arm and great eyes, he is incredibly smart. He knows his surroundings. Just from the few games I watched him,  he has an uncanny ability to avoid pressure. Not to say he didn’t look like a freshman out there(because at times he did), it was very minimal. However when pressure would come, majority of time I see him extend plays and and make first downs(see rose bowl game). For a guy who only played one season, he could avoid taking many unnecessary sacks. Of course I could be Jon Gruden and show you some of his young mistakes he made, like in the Washington game where he threw two pics that really didn’t have to be pics. A minor blemish but it does stick out.

Darnold is far from a finished product, but there is no denying that he is special. He is eaten up with raw talent and he will only get better. If he continues to improve on strengths and work on his weaknesses, he could help launch USC into the playoff picture, and also, the heisman trophy.

It’s been pretty quiet on the plains the past couple of seasons for Gus Malzahn and his Auburn Tigers. After a tremendous 2013 season that included a National Title appearance and two huge last second comeback wins against Alabama and Georgia, the Tigers have been trying to find an identity behind center. Coach Malzahn has had a luxury of using many quarterbacks the past couple of seasons, but nothing has really equated to wins or championships. Sean White was the starter last year and he showed signs of greatness, but he was inconsistent throughout the season. And now that John Franklin III has transferred, the Tigers are looking for a new signal caller.  Enter Baylor transfer, Jarrett Stidham.

As backup for Seth Russell, Stidham recorded 75 completions out of 109 attempts, 1265 yards passing, and 12 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions during the 2015 season. Not bad for a backup, and everyone knows the backup is the most popular player on the team. When Russell went down with a neck injury, Stidham started three games against Kansas St, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St. During this three game span, Stidham preformed remarkably well, throwing for 934 yards, 6 touchdowns, and only 2 interceptions.

As you watch Stidham, you see exactly why he’s the perfect fit for Malzahn’s offense. The dual-threat quarterback has a very accurate arm, and some underrated foot speed; two key ingredients that makes the Tigers offense dangerous. Not a knock on Sean White or Jeremy Johnson, but that duo never could put it together for the offense. Stidham is the complete package and that is why he is now named the starting quarterback for the Auburn Tigers. What he lacks in experience pales in comparison to his overall athleticism I believe that makes the Tigers a dark horse for the SEC west.

The Clemson Tigers were not alone at dethroning the SEC in 2016. Their comrades in the ACC had plenty of success beating the big boys in the South Eastern Conference. Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Florida State took care of business against their SEC rivals at the end of the regular season. On top of that, the ACC went 8-3 during bowl season, which was the best win/loss record in the power five for college football and the most bowl wins in conference history. What does that mean for a conference known for so many years as a basketball league? I have the answer-opportunity!

Yes, the ACC has an opportunity to change perceptions on exactly who they are. For many years the ACC was the conference that always sent North Carolina and Duke to the Final Four-in basketball. That’s wonderful, but not if you’re a football fan. Not if you have been the laughing stock of college football. Not if you were known to choke in the big games or get killed by your rival school. I’m not saying the ACC has been awful in football, more like mediocre. They have been more of a tease, toying with your emotions and presenting a false narrative about who they are. Grant it, Florida State has carried the torch for this conference for a long time(can I get a amen?) but somewhere down the line, someone else has to do it too and not just one team but many teams.

The ACC use to be known as “Florida State and the seven dwarfs”. It was a joke that was told at most bars, parties, and at Steve Spurrier’s lake house. For majority of the 1990’s, Florida State owned this league. Then in 2004, Miami and Virginia Tech came in to crash the party. The thought was when the canes and hokies came in it would bring some much needed football balance and stability to this conference. But on the contrary, it only created parity and more separation between the haves and have not’s. Yet, the torch was handed off. Teams started winning more and coaches started to get more love and recognition for what they did on and off the field. Yes, coaches do leave and players do graduate but new coaches come in and new players suit up. It’s a new era for the “basketball conference” and it’s starting to look more like a football conference.

Since 2013, the ACC has won two National Championships thanks to FSU and Clemson. You add some great coaches in Paul Johnson, David Cutcliff, and Bobby Petrino, you have some of the best minds in the game right here in the ACC. But this success has to be sustained. This cannot be a one time fluke if the ACC wants perception to change. It’s a new season, one with many opportunities for this conference to make another jump; to make that next step as an elite football conference. For that to happen, you just have to do one thing: win.

The University of Texas has had it’s share of legendary players and coaches come through Austin: Ricky Williams, Darrell Royal, Vince Young, Mack Brown, Earl Campbell, Tommy Nobis, and Bobby Layne. Those names are some of the greats to coach or play for the Longhorns. It’s no secret Texas that has not been Texas since Mack Brown retired. Honestly, the last couple of years that Mack was in Austin, it was not up to Texas standards and you could tell he was just not enjoying the game anymore. Next up was Charlie Strong who is a great defensive-minded coach and heck of a recruiter. Yet, when you only win 5-6 games at a school like Texas, you’re not going to be coaching there for very long. Strong is a great man and will be a successful head coach one day, I just don’t think he was ready for all that is Texas football.

For the record, Texas has 5 National Titles to their story program. They are in the Big XII and play in the “Red River Shootout” against Oklahoma every season. Getting players to come to Austin is not a problem. What has been the issue is finding the right coach -until now. Texas has gone after a hot commodity; someone that has been moving up in the coaching ranks and has a great offensive mind, which is something that has been missing in Austin. Texas has picked up the #1 coaching prospect in America-Tom Herman. Herman is known an offensive guru-his Air Raid tactics won a National Championship at Ohio State in 2014 for Urban Meyer. In his previous stint at Houston, he compiled a record of 22-4, and never lost a home game. He also beat FSU and Oklahoma. On top of that, he led the Cougars to their first ever American Athletic Conference title.

It’s easy to get lost in the rumor mill with a top coach like Tom Herman. So many schools came courting Herman that each media outlet had a different story about a different school every day. To be fair to Herman, he knew where he wanted to coach. Texas brings in the most revenue for any school in the FBS. It has the largest alumni base in the state of Texas, and it is home of the most fertile recruiting in the nation. He would had been an idiot to pass this opportunity up. But with a big coaching gig like Texas will come big expectations, and Herman knows it. He has plenty of talent to work with, which includes sophomore quarterback, Shane Buechele. Shane threw for 2598 yards last season with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Not bad for a freshman quarterback, but Coach Herman will demand more out Buechele. How well the young quarterback adapts to Herman’s offense will tell a lot about 2017.

Tom Herman has rejuvenated the Longhorn fan base, there is no question there. Like a rechargeable battery, the Longhorn faithful are ready to start a new journey with a young, bright head coach who knows how to score a lot of points. But this is Texas. This is the Big XII. Herman will have to win out of the gate to keep the faithful happy, because with those kind of expectations, losing is not an option.

A shockwave went through the streets of Oxford, Mississippi yesterday as Hugh Freeze, head football coach for the Ole Miss Rebels, resigned after allegations of calling an escort- service from a university phone. Jeffery Vitter, Ole Miss Chancellor was quoted on Freeze and this situation saying “a pattern of personal misconduct inconsistent with the standards we expect from the leader of our football team. While Coach Freeze served our university well in many regards during his tenure, we simply cannot accept the conduct in his personal life that we have discovered.” The athletic director of the school, Ross Bjork along with internal help, noticed unusual phone behavior and a pattern with coach freeze’s phone calls. The phone calls apparently started after in early 2012 but the one that stuck out was a phone call made in January of 2016. The phone call was to a Detroit, MI area code and it lasted one minute. The phone number was associated with a website that advertised a female escort business. Naturally, Freeze is denying any such phone call as saying “We call the wrong numbers all the time.”

Now, I’m no rocket scientist but if you’re being accused of such behavior, couldn’t you find another excuse to come up with than saying “We call the wrong numbers all the time”? Look, none of us where there when this went down. I’m not calling Freeze a liar and I’m not saying this wasn’t a legit number. It’s possible this was a mistake and that Freeze had no clue who this number belonged to. All I know is that he had to resign over it and it could cost him more than his job. I know a lot of people out in the media and social media are having fun with this situation and especially rival schools. However, Hugh Freeze is a married man. He is going to have to explain this to his wife and family. We all need to pray for this man. None of us should be throwing stones at him. We all need to lift him up and give him our support instead making a mockery of him and this situation.

Where does Ole Miss go from here? Matt Luke is now the interim head coach. He was the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the rebels recently, but now he is the head man. I believe the team will rally to him and make the most of the season, even if they aren’t playing for a bowl. Ole Miss will survive this minor setback and become a contender in the SEC again, it’s just going to be a process and their fans better develop some patience because to be frank, they don’t have a choice.

How does one lose their job by winning? Easy, by not winning the games that count. I believe Mark Richt could had stayed at the University of Georgia until he felt like he didn’t want to coach anymore. I believe most uga fans would had been ok with that, but there were some that wanted more. To be honest, some of the faithful believed he didn’t have what it took to win the big game. That’s up for debate for sure, but there is one thing that is crystal clear: UGA is done settling for 10 wins. This is why Mark Richt was shown the door and why Greg McGarity brought in Kirby Smart, a UGA man, to take the bulldogs to another level- a championship level.

Coach smart comes with many high accolades and an prestigious resume. Under the guidance of Nick Saban, Smart moved up the coaching ranks pretty quick while he was at Alabama. He was voted Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012 and was voted the Broyles Award for the nations best assistant coach in 2009. In 2013, Smart was given a $200,000 salary increase to make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in College Football. While at Alabama, Kirby Smart earned a reputation to have the best defense in the country year in/out. Now he comes home, to Athens, to install that same style defense. That same style of toughness that won so many national championships for Alabama.

There won’t be much of a talent drop-off as UGA is loaded on defense and other skill positions. This year, coach smart got one of the best defensive backs in the country in Richard LeCounte III out of Hinesville, GA. He also grabbed one of the best defensive ends in the nation with Robert Beal from Peachtree Ridge. Obviously, recruiting is a strong suit of Coach Smart. He knows the state of Georgia and he knows where to find quality football players. Georgia is known as one of the best states to produce high school football talent, the only problem is that everyone loves to recruit the state. If Kirby can lock the state for UGA, he could produce something special in the near future. Of course that’s a tall order considering the quality of coaches in the SEC and ACC.

What do I expect out of Kirby Smart? Well, I expect him to bring in some of the best players in the nation to the University of Georgia. I expect him to become a really good coach at Georgia. Time will tell if that will happen. He has everything he needs to win in Athens. He’s got the financial backing, he’s got the alumni backing, he’s got the coaches and players backing, and he’s even got the recruiting aspect down. What he doesn’t have is a championship and he knows he’s on the clock because what he was brought in for was to win, and win BIG.

 

2016 was the year of the Tiger-The Clemson Tiger that is. It was thirty five years in the making.  Guided by one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Clemson history, Deshaun Watson and the Clemson Tigers defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship game. This was not a Cinderella season, something that no one saw coming. We all saw it 365 days earlier, when these two same teams battled for the same trophy, only with Clemson being on the losing end. You could see it in the eyes of #4. As he was walking off the field, watching Alabama celebrate, you could tell he was ready for round 2. He knew he would be back. So did Dabo. So did Clemson! And they did!

Now I ask myself, what does Dabo and company do for an encore? There are plenty of questions surrounding this team coming into the 2017 season, none more than who replaces Deshaun Watson. How do you replace the nation’s top quarterback the past two seasons? Also, how do you replace key play makers like Mike Williams, Wayne Gallman, and Artavis Scott? The answer lies in recruiting-and Dabo is dang good at it.

One way to secure the Quarterback position is to get the best available, and Dabo has secured both top spots for 2017 and 2018. Hunter Johnson, a kid from Brownsburg, Indiana chose Clemson over schools like Notre Dame, Miami, and Florida. That’s saying something when you steal a kid from Notre Dame’s backyard. And for 2018, Trevor Lawrence from Cartersville, GA. The 5 star signal caller is 6-6, 196 lbs  fits into the Deshaun Watson size and mold. Both of these cats come with a great resume in high school, but we all know the college game is an entirely different arena. They both also will have to beat out Junior Kelly Bryant, who is the leading candidate to replace Deshaun Watson.

At receiver, Dabo landed the #2 WR in the nation with Tee Higgins. Higgins was recruited by everyone. At 6-5, 190 lbs and you know he will just get bigger and stronger. At running back, from Jennings, LA, comes Travis Etienne who scouts consider as the total package at running back and is one of the most underrated backs in the 2017 class. These are just a few names of the large amount of talent coming to Death Valley and Dabo has no plans of slowing down brining in these types of players.

Clemson is no longer a one-trick poney that shows up once a generation to shock you. In their graveyard, you will see names of their victims: Oklahoma, LSU, Ohio St., and Alabama just to name a few. There was once a time when the Tigers were known to put on a good poker face, only to fold and break your heart sometime during the season, but no more. Dabo has changed that. He has single handedly changed the culture of the football program and everyone is noticing it. This new version of “Clemsoning” is winning and it looks like they’re just getting started.

 

Source: Chasing the Bear

Source: Chasing the Bear

 Bear Byant used to say “It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Coach Byant was a man of few words, but when he spoke, people paved attention, especially his players. He demanded hard work and installed a winning attitude on his football team. That winning attitude brought six national titles to the University of Alabama. Bear Bryant is known as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, yet, someone may surpass his legendary status(could be premature/sacrilegious) one day. The future legend I speak of, is none other than Nick Saban.

Before coach Saban took one step in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide went through several years of trying to replace Bear Bryant. Maybe there were unrealistic expectations? Who knows, but the bar that Bear Byrant set at the University of Alabama was so high, each coach that walked onto that campus was going to be compared to the Bear. Gene Stallings is the lone exception and he was good(won the 1992 National Title), but he was unable to consistently win and that eventually led him to resign. After a couple of decades of obscurity, bama landed their man-Nick Saban. Now, coach Saban does not have street signs named after him nor is the stadium named after him. However, his fingerprint is etched in his work. You could say that his work ethic, winning attitude, and disciplined nature rubs off on everyone that is around him. Winning is his blood type and he doesn’t know how to function any other way. After nine seasons, he has compiled a record of 101-18 with a winning percentage of .849. Add a long 5 National Titles(4 with Alabama, 1 with LSU), Nick Saban knows how to win, and win some more.

Defense is the name of the game when you talk about Nick Saban. You like stats? Check this out: In the 2011 season, Alabama’s defense only gave up 8.2 points a game. And they only allowed 72.2 rushing yards a game. Not only that, the Tide allowed only 183.6 total yards per game AND 111.5 passing yards per game. Those three averages are the best marks for any defense since the turn of the century. That’s mind-boggling considering today’s college football landscape.

When asked what he enjoyed about winning, he replied “I certainly like to win. But I really hate to lose. So when you think about that, you’re always motivated to, ‘I don’t want to lose the next game. I don’t want to lose the next game.” I read this and ask myself ” does he like to win a lot or is he afraid to lose?” It could be both! This is what I know: If Nick Saban continues to bring championships to Alabama, he could very well be remembered as the greatest college football coach of all time, and even better-I dare say, Bear Bryant.